Operating an organization often involves the operation of and interaction with computer networks that interconnect numerous computing systems. Various computing systems may, for example, support the operations of an organization, such as a business. Many computing systems may be co-located (e.g., as part of a local network) and/or located in multiple distinct geographical locations (e.g., connected via one or more private or public intermediate networks). For example, an organization may operate one or more data centers that house significant numbers of interconnected computing systems. Data centers may be private data centers that are operated by and on behalf of a single organization, public data centers that are operated by entities as businesses, and/or combination private/public data centers. It is common for data centers to be participants in a communications network, such as the Internet. Data centers may, for example, be used to provide services that are accessed from outside of the data centers. Over time, organizations may develop complex computing environments that support their operations, often requiring substantial investments in technology.
In many instances, organizations make computing resources available from multiple geographic locations. Network-accessible services, for example, may be provided by deploying servers and possibly other computing resources in multiple geographic locations. By geographically distributing computing resources that implement a network-accessible service, the service may be made robust. For instance, if a set of resources in one region fails, for example due to a power outage and/or network failure, the service may be accessed from another region. As another example, geographically distributing computing resources can generally improve latency and other metrics on network performance by providing the service from a location that is geographically closer. Deploying resources in multiple geographic regions, however, introduces complexities for resource management which, if not effectively taken into account, can diminish the advantages of maintaining geographically distributed systems. Dealing with such complexities is, generally, not a trivial aspect of resource management.